Bologna's Two Towers in 2026

Can you climb the Asinelli Tower in 2026?

No. The tower is closed and online booking is switched off. The reopening is officially tied to the end of the Garisenda works, targeted for 2028.

The official booking page now reads "Torre Asinelli chiusa per manutenzione nell'area": closed because of the works around it. It sends visitors to the Torre dell'Orologio instead. The Asinelli itself is not the problem. It shares a fenced site with the Garisenda, a few metres away, and nobody is climbing 498 steps next to a monitored leaning tower.

Could it open before 2028? Mattia Santori, president of the Bologna-Modena tourist area, told il Resto del Carlino that it should come earlier. Nothing has been decided. If a date is announced, it will appear on the Bologna Welcome page first. Do not plan a trip around it.

What is happening to the Garisenda tower?

A slow stabilisation project: deep foundations, then steel frames with pulling machines that ease the load on the base. The city's target is to finish in 2028.

After unusual movements were detected in November 2023, both towers were ringed with nets and containers. In February 2026 the Comune confirmed the funding for the next phase: deep foundations to carry two steel frames fitted with the "Pisa machines", the pulling equipment used on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, tested and upgraded in Cesena. A new control room links them to the towers' real-time monitoring. Mayor Matteo Lepore gave 2028 as the goal.

The engineers are told to move slowly: check how the tower reacts after each step, then adjust the next one. In April 2026 il Resto del Carlino reported that the frame works have a contract period of 256 consecutive days from the start of installation, with consolidation planned for 2027. We could not find a public report of exactly where the works stood in early October, so expect fencing and site cabins at Porta Ravegnana for the rest of 2026.

What do food walks do near the Two Towers?

They pass them, and some finish there. The towers sit a few minutes east of the Quadrilatero, the old market streets where most Bologna food tours eat.

The walking food tour with a local expert starts at the Neptune Fountain and, per its itinerary, ends at the Two Towers. In between come tigella, the market lanes, aged balsamic, a glass at Osteria del Sole, tortellini and tagliatelle in a trattoria, and gelato. The listing promises local history along the way, which is the best use of a closed monument.

The dinner, wine and food walk and the street food tour both meet at Palazzo della Mercanzia, the Gothic loggia right beside the towers. Arrive ten minutes early and you get the tower photo for free. The Quadrilatero lanes, Via Pescherie Vecchie and Via Drapperie among them, are a short walk west.

Where can you see Bologna from above instead?

The Torre dell'Orologio in Piazza Maggiore, which the tower's own booking page suggests, or the San Luca sanctuary at the top of its 666-arch portico.

The Torre dell'Orologio is the clock tower of Palazzo d'Accursio, the town hall on Piazza Maggiore. Bologna Welcome promotes it as a 360-degree view over the city, sold with the Civic Art Collections. It is lower than the Asinelli, but it puts you right above the main square.

San Luca is the long-view option. The portico to San Luca has 666 arches over about 3.5 km, starting at Porta Saragozza; the real climb begins after the Arco del Meloncello. Walk up, or take bus 20 to Villa Spada and change to bus 58, which runs infrequently. The San Luca Express tourist train leaves from Piazza Maggiore. Our tip: walk up in the morning, ride down, then reward yourself with lunch in the centre.

What is the broken vase, the seventh secret of Bologna?

One of the city's seven secrets is a broken vase at the top of the Asinelli Tower. With the tower closed, it is the one secret you cannot reach in 2026.

Bologna Welcome's seven secrets of Bologna are a set of small curiosities that locals send visitors hunting for. Number seven, the broken vase, sits at the top of the Asinelli, at the end of the 498 steps. Until the tower reopens, that one waits.

The other six are at street level and fit easily around a food walk. Two of them are close to the food quarter: the whispering corners under the Voltone of Palazzo del Podestà and Neptune's "finger", which many tours start beside. Mind the address of the arrows: they are in Corte Isolani on Strada Maggiore, not on Via Castiglione as some lists claim.

Are the Two Towers still worth a visit in 2026?

Yes, for ten minutes on your way between the Quadrilatero and the university quarter. Just do not plan a morning around them.

You can stand in Piazza di Porta Ravegnana and look up at the lean of the Garisenda over the fencing. Traffic and pedestrian routes around the site have changed since 2023, and residents on Via San Vitale and Strada Maggiore have complained about access, so follow the signs rather than your map app.

Put the saved hour into food. The towers sit at the end of the walking food tour, and our guide to the best food tour in Bologna compares it with the dinner walk next door. For a full city plan, see how many days in Bologna.

The classic Bologna food walk: tigella, the market, aged balsamic, tortellini, tagliatelle, Osteria del Sole and gelato, ending at the towers.

★ 4.8 · 3 hours

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